Windows 8 Sure Isn't Wowing Them

Windows 8 is incredibly important to the future of Microsoft, and the future of Microsoft is incredibly important to the region. And so I've quietly been collecting depressing stories about Windows 8 and worrying about the local economy. The most recent story comes from Yahoo:

Almost one year ago today, we laid out the nightmare scenario for Microsoft (MSFT) that could lead to its business collapsing. After laying it all out, we concluded, "Fortunately for Microsoft, none of this is going to happen."

We were wrong.

A lot changed in the last year. Microsoft's nightmare scenario is actually starting to take hold.

I understand that tech writers like to be histrionic. If something isn't the biggest hit ever, it's the biggest miss ever, and the future of every single tech company in the world hangs in the balance at any given time on any given day. But there are so many unimpressed stories about Windows 8, and very few positive ones. I stopped by the Windows Store at University Village a month ago and played with a Surface tablet and found it to be a difficult, unintuitive mess. The OS could get better with practice, but I'm sure not willing to shell out for a Surface to test that hypothesis.

I know that many commenters think I'm gleeful when Microsoft fucks up. That's not true; Microsoft is an important part of the area, and I want the company to succeed. And when I read all the stories about Microsoft halving their supply chain on Surface tablets, as a Seattleite, I think the only appropriate reaction is worry.

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